Curing the Cold
by Scarlett88
Summary: My take on Nathan and Adelaide's wedding.


The lights of New York sparkled and twinkled for the thousands of inhabitants lurking the evening streets. In a secluded area, just outside of the city there stood an expectant crowd of various men and women from all walks of life waited for what they were promised would be a night to remember.

The man of the hour, Nathan Detroit waited impatiently, taping his foot in anticipation of the evening's events. He had come to the conclusion that everything would go very well or very poorly, and he was extremely nervous about the latter scenario.

"Relax," the confident voice of Nathan's friend and gambling partner Sky Masterson did little to ease Nathan's woes.

"Is she going to come?" Nathan demanded.

"Sarah promised she would – and Sarah doesn't go back on her word."

Nathan grimaced to himself. He was a desperate man, and this was literally his last chance with the woman that he had loved for the past fourteen years. He knew he had been foolish to keep the engagement going for so long; for years the lovely Miss Adelaide had been begging with him, pleading with him to set the date so that they could begin their life together. But Nathan was always ready with one of his dozens of excuses: the timing wasn't right, they weren't ready yet, they didn't have enough money, they didn't find the perfect house. Nathan had been very surprised that Adelaide stayed with him for so long. She was one of the prettier dolls in New York, and there were plenty of other men that were willing to marry her in a heartbeat; but she stayed true to Nathan, settling for whatever he was willing to give her.

Nathan was so used to Adelaide's complacent behavior that he was genuinely surprised when she put her foot down and essentially ordered him to marry her. She had threatened to break off the relationship, something that she had done in the past, but never followed through with. This time was very different. The argument started out the same; Adelaide had requested that Nathan give up his precious crap game, his main source of income. Nathan's crap game was very famous in New York, nationally actually, with men from all over coming for a little bit of action. Nathan didn't actually play crap, he just found a place for the game (which was no easy feat with the police putting the heat on every night), and took a piece from the proceeds. Adelaide had always detested that game, along with all of the other dolls in the state, and Nathan couldn't say no to Adelaide when she asked him to quit the game.

Nathan had every intention of quitting the game – after one important man, Big Jule from Illinois, came and played. Lieutenant Brannagan had caught the men congregating at Mindy's and Nathan's friend Benny Southstreet quickly told the policeman that the men were having a bachelor party for Nathan. Everything would have been fine, but Adelaide was in the restaurant and heard the news. With her hopes so high, Nathan couldn't disappoint her, and he promised to marry her the very next day, after her stint at The Hot Box, where she was the number one dancer.

Nathan knew that he wasn't going to follow through with his promise, and not wanting to face Adelaide, he had another one of his friends, Nicely Nicely Johnson, tell Adelaide that the wedding was off. But Nathan wasn't planning on Sky Masterson intercepting Adelaide and telling her the truth. A furious Adelaide caught up with Nathan after the crap game, in which Sky turned out to be the big winner, and rather than placate his doll with a lie, he opted for the truth. But the truth was so outrageous (he actually had to attend a prayer meeting, Sky's bet during the game), that Adelaide became more furious and told him that she never wanted to see him again.

After the prayer meeting that night, Nathan spent the entire evening searching for Adelaide, only to find out that she wasn't speaking to him. Her coworkers at The Hot Box had no trouble telling Nathan that Adelaide wanted nothing to do with him; he wasn't popular with many of the women in New York, after taking most of the men to his rotating crap game. The following week proved no better. He attended her show at The Hot Box each night, only to be unable to see her at the end – always being told that she was 'otherwise occupied'.

At the end of his rope, he turned to his friend Sky, ever resourceful, who had a plan of his own that he had cooked up with his new bride Sarah Brown, now Sarah Masterson. In order for everything to work, Nathan was going to have to buckle down and give Miss Adelaide exactly what she had been asking for, for the past fourteen years. The question that now remained, was did Adelaide want to be married to Nathan at all?

Sarah and her mission friends spent the past few days decorating the small park area where the ceremony was to be held. Sarah's grandfather, Arvide Abernathy was going to officiate the occasion. Sky was Nathan's best man, and the rest of the crap buddies were groomsmen and guests in the wedding. After some convincing from Sarah, all of The Hot Box girls agreed to participate in the ceremony, with Sarah herself holding position as matron of honor for bride Adelaide.

Sky once again assured a nervous Nathan that Sarah was going to arrive at the park on time with Miss Adelaide. Both men knew that Nathan was taking the biggest gamble of his life – gambling literally his whole life – for one doll, the doll that Nathan professed that he couldn't live without.

"Relax Nathan, if she doesn't show up, we can continue our crap game," Big Jule said as he fiddled with the chrysanthemum in his jacket. Everyone was dressed to the nines for the occasion, one that had been touted as being an event to remember (it wasn't every day one of New York's most wanted men was married), if it were to ever take place.

"She'll come," Nicely-Nicely said confidently, chewing on a sandwich that he had purchased. "If Miss Sarah says it, then it must be true."

Benny Southstreet groaned at his friend. After Sky married Sarah, Sky and Nicely joined the Save a Soul Mission; which was Sarah's pet project, currently growing after the lengthy prayer meeting which resulted from the crap game.

"It's almost time," Nathan muttered under his breath.

"We'll wait all night if we have to," Arvide said comfortingly. "The Mission can wait."

Nathan looked up to the sky, wringing his hands. He had made a bargain with God that if his Adelaide were to come tonight that he would truly give up the crap game and chose a more respectable profession. He had to do something; he had literally worn out all of his other chances. Nathan continued to look at the stars, wondering just how powerful Sarah's God truly was, if He could truly change the hearts of men and women.

As if to answer his prayer, he heard Adelaide's sneeze coming across the street. Adelaide had been dealing with a perpetual cold – for fourteen years to be exact – which always seemed to be heightened whenever she was near Nathan. She was accompanied by a confident Sarah, who never once doubted her plan to reunite her friend with her fiancé.

"Why are we here?" Adelaide whined to Sarah, covering her arms to shield herself from the New York wind.

"Just a little further," Sarah insisted as they made their way through the throng of people.

Adelaide's mouth dropped wide open as she stood in the middle of the park right in front of a gazebo that was lit with dozens of bright twinkly lights all around. In the middle of the area, stood Nathan Detroit, flanked by Sky Masterson and Sarah's Uncle Arvide Abernathy.

"You," Adelaide stammered, eyes locked with Nathan. She had told herself that she was done with that man, after being lied to for what seemed to be the one millionth time. Fourteen years of devotion had gotten her nothing but a bad cold, a cold that was starting to go away when she decided to end it with Nathan for good. Turning to Sarah she asked, "What's going…." Adelaide's hands flew up to her face as she let out a giant sneeze. "On!" she demanded.

Nathan boldly stepped forward, causing Adelaide to trip backwards; a quick thinking Nathan lunged for her before she hit the floor in her in her ridiculously high heels. He had one hand firm behind her back and his other on the side of her waist. She trembled from his strong touch and found herself relaxing in his arms – arms that had brought her comfort for many years.

"There's a wedding," Nathan said, gesturing to Uncle Arvide, shyly waving next to Sky Masterson.

"Whose?" Adelaide asked, looking at Nathan and Sarah questioningly. "Why wasn't I told earlier?"

"Because then it wouldn't have been a surprise," Sarah said simply as Nathan got down on one knee.

"Nathan?" Adelaide asked nervously. "What are you doing…."

"Keeping a promise," he told her, taking her hand in his, "That is long overdue."

Adelaide let out a gasp of air; she couldn't believe her ears. After fourteen years of waiting and wondering, Nathan was finally ready to get married. "Oh Nathan," Adelaide whispered, breaking out into a smile.

"We don't have much time," Sarah said, pulling Adelaide away. "We've got to fit you into your wedding dress." Adelaide's fellow dancer, Laverne appeared holding Adelaide's wedding dress and veil.

"How did you know that I would say yes?" she asked Nathan.

"I didn't…I gambled," Nathan chuckled.

"And it'd better be the last time," Adelaide warned as she rushed off to change in a shop close to the park.

Adelaide slipped into her long off white dress, one that had been passed down from her mother and given to her when she moved to New York. She had tried on the dress dozens of times over the past several years to make sure that it fit, and it always did. Running her hands over the smooth fabric, a satisfied smile crossed her mouth. _It may have taken fourteen years but it's finally happening. _She opened her eyes and turned around, the gown swishing around her body. _For better or worse, I am going to be Mrs. Nathan Detroit._

Adelaide took a final look in the shop mirror as Sarah placed the veil on her head. "I know it's a big question, but would you be willing to be my matron of honor?"

Sarah squeezed Adelaide's shoulders. "I would be honored."

Adelaide pulled Sarah into a hug; the two had become unusual friends over the past few weeks, bonding over their troubles with Nathan and Sky. Together, the two had come to the conclusion that they were better off marrying the men now and training them in the ways of life after the ceremony.

Lieutenant Brannagan knocked on the door to the shop. "Whenever you're ready Miss Adelaide," he said, offering her his arm.

Laverne and Sarah leaded the way to the park, with Adelaide the officer behind them. Adelaide felt her pace quicken as she saw Nathan. This was the moment that she had dreamed about since she was a very little girl. Her mother had raised her to prepare for this special day, and although she wasn't able to attend, Adelaide knew that she was there in spirit.

The crowd rose to greet the small wedding processional with The Hot Box Girls, each carrying a small bouquet of assorted flowers, and Sarah taking a strong the pack. Adelaide closed her eyes to listen to the outside sounds of the city. When she opened her eyes, Nathan was standing before her, with Sky by his side. Lieutenant Brannagan graciously gave Adelaide to Nathan, with a strong warning to the new groom to keep himself and his bride out of trouble.

Adelaide looked into Nathan's eyes as Arvide read from the Bible. She hadn't sneezed once since Nathan had proposed. When Arvide asked Adelaide if she would take Nathan as her 'lawful wedded husband' she let an enthusiastic yes that brought out slight laughter from the crowd, many of whom knew how long Adelaide had been waiting to be married.

Arvide turned to Nathan; "Do you Nathan Detroit take Miss Adelaide to be your lawful wedded wife?"

Nathan took one last look at Adelaide, her eyes so full of love and hope for him. He knew that letting her down could mean losing her life, and that was a gamble that he wasn't willing to take. "I do," he said boldly, bringing out muffled gasps from his gambling friends, who assumed that he wouldn't go through with the wedding.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," Arvide said with pride as Nathan dipped Adelaide in a deep kiss. The crowd cheered and applauded, with Sarah and Sky sharing loving looks across from each other. Together they had reunited two friends once and for all.

"I can't wait to send Mother a telegram tomorrow," Adelaide exclaimed as she and Nathan raced to the getaway car. "She'll just love meeting you."

Nathan's body convulsed into an enormous sneeze, prompting a look of concern from Adelaide.

"I hope you aren't coming down with something."

"I'm sure it will go away in time," Nathan assured her quietly as they got into the car and drove away. After all, Nathan Detroit had an entire lifetime to get over his 'cold' with Adelaide, who would be sure to help him every step of the way.


End file.
